Saturday, February 27, 2010

Still the story of the sports day but this time the focus is on the Kadet Bomba marching teams. Too many photographs to be put in one posting. Congratulations to the boys team for securing the second place (at last) and congratulations to the girls team as well for the excellent performance. Just to remind everyone in the team, the practice will continue after the First Standardized Test.

People started arriving in school at 7:00 a.m. But this time there were not as many people as there were during the cross country event, which could be a blessing in disguise. After gathering all the afternoon session students and giving a short briefing, they moved to the school field.

with the bunga manggar bearers

with the butterfly girl of the Purple House and they won the marching for sports houses

There were a few final track events being held at for the day. Nevertheless, the excitement could be felt among the participants of the opening ceremony consisting of students of the sports houses and uniform units. There was a multitude of colours everywhere, from the uniforms to the designed costumes worn by the marching team members. The marching competition at times had overshadowed the running competition because everybody was looking forward to it. What more with the many hours spent by the uniform units to train, people were eager to see the result.

during the opening ceremony

As there are about 2800 students population in my school and more students need to be given the opportunity to be involved in sports activities. Thus, we have six sports houses: red, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple. There are special names given to each house, like Pahlawan, Perwira, Pendekar etc., but people seem to remember the colours more than the names.

the juniors of Kadet Bomba who had helped manage the team

Izzat Lukman, Syazwan, Syafiq, Aiman (a.k.a Baby), Hafiz and Azim

Aliah, Liyana, Saifaralina and Asyikin

A few ex-students also came to school. The first group was the fourth formers who have moved to boarding school just recently. The other was a few girls from SPM batch 2005, three of them are still studying in UTM while Aliah is in Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences.

And this is Mr. Mustafa Kamal, an ex-teacher of SMKTUN. Now he is the Senior Assistant of the Students' Affair in SMK Gelang Patah. He was here to support her daughter (who is in the Kadet Bomba team) and to videotape the exciting moment. Hopefully I can get a copy of the recording so I can put the video in my blog.The story will continue in Part 2...

On the way home after a wedding reception of a colleague's son in Muar, my 3 friends and I went exploring. This town is significant in a way to me because I spent my two years here studying in SMS Muar.

how many monkeys can you see in this picture?

with Mr. Sa'at, Mr. Sabri and Mr. Masrizal

The early plan was to hop onto a boat for a river cruise on Muar River but we were unfortunate because there was no boat to be seen. So just sat down, observing people, real monkeys and the scenery of Tanjung Mas. Finally, we just settled for a bowl of ais kacang each.

not just an ordinary mosque

Then we stopped at Masjid Jamek Kampung Raja, Pagoh, (Kampung Raja Mosque) which surprisingly has hidden history inside. There were tombs of the Sultan of the Malacca Sultanate which dated back as old as the 16th century - the history is written in the famous book of Sejarah Melayu (The Malay History).

This is the tomb of Sultan Alauddin. To understand the history better, here are some notes found on the signboard nearby:

Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah was the seventh Sultan of Malacca who ruled from 1477 to 1488. He is remembered as a good and wise Sultan who maintained peace and security in his kingdom through a series of security outposts. He did not rely too much on his aide, Bendahara Tun Perak, in running his kingdom, preferring to oversee things himself. His death was quickly followed by infighting and dissension within the ruling classes which ultimately resulted in Malacca falling easily to the invading Portuguese in 1511.Sultan Alauddin died under suspicious circumstances and it was said he might have been murdered. His body was interred in Kampung Raja. There is evidence that Kampung Raja was a royal town during the Malay Malacca Sultanate and that a palace was built there.

an elephant turned into a stone

According to Mr. Saat, our History teacher, the big stone outside the mosque is actually an elephant that was turned into a stone when the Sultan cast a spell to invading enemies to the town. Truth or myth?

the tomb of Panglima Yang Gagah Mat Berani

Then we stopped at another tomb, situated right beside a small road. It belongs to Panglima Yang Gagah Mat Berani (The Strong Warrior Mat Berani). He was believed to die while defending the place against the Portuguese attack in 1511. From his name, he must be a strong and brave person. And that wrapped up our short road trip in one corner of Muar, and I did learn a lot of history outside the classroom and without reading a textbook. Learning history can be fun in a way. And that happened when you went exploring with a history teacher. Thanks to Mr. Saat, the driver cum tourist guide, and also Mr. Masrizal and Mr. Sabri.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Today was a holiday in conjunction with the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Nevertheless, two groups of students were in school for marching practice. The school's Sports Day is scheduled tomorrow and we were using whatever time left to improve the march past.

they should be serious in these photos...

Congratulations to all the boys and girls for showing the spirit and eagerness for the coming event. The girls are actually more excited as they will be making their debut this year. And you can see their excitement when they were given the full accessories to be worn with uniforms.

... and then only let it loose.

Wishing the teams all the best of luck. However, I never set any high hope for the teams as the result for the marching competition will always be unexpected. As long as they can perform well and impress the crowd, that will be good enough.

These are just a few examples of work produced by students of UHB1412 class which I think show a lot effort has been put in, and thus deserve good marks. At least, this will be helpful if I want to show the others in the future how good short notes should be done, if I am still teaching, that is.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It was only the second day the school started after the Chinese New Year break but what a long day it was for me. First of all, we had the rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the school's Sports Day, from the morning until the afternoon.

with some of the girls

sorry, a few boys couldn't fit into the frame

I went to see the Kadet Bomba boys and girls doing the march past. As for the girls, this would be their first appearance (formally) in public after two years. Everybody seemed to be excited despite the afternoon heat. Although they were not that good yet, I was sure this would be one moments that they will always remember after they have left school.

please focus on the red packet

Even after more than one week, the festive spirit can still be felt. A few Chinese colleagues came back to school with variety of CNY goodies.

from Sarawak, salted terubuk fish

green tea

preserved nutmeg, unpacked and some eaten

oranges again, from both colleagues and students

However, this was really something unexpected. It was related to my posting on 19th February. Not only I was given a free dinner, but the package actually came also with a present that arrived much later. I did not know how to thank you all more for everything.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

"Gotong-royong" is Malay word that has no one word translation in English. It can be described as voluntary work by a group of people - and most of the time it is always related to cleaning activities but not necessarily. So the residents went to the nearby surau (a smaller version of a mosque) to lend helping hands on a Sunday morning. The timing was just right for me and this was the chance to meet others once in a blue moon. We are sometimes too busy to mingle around with our neighbours.

solo action

RIDDLE: how many men do you need to change a light bulb?

Mr. Handyman at work

We started work at 8:30 a.m. and there was no specific list of who should do what. People simply came and did whatever things that needed to be done. And everything was over at about 11:00 - a short but meaningful time spent.

refreshment for eveyrbody

feeling tired but hungry

The moral of the story: (1) Go to surau or mosque when you have the time (2) Get to know your neighbours.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

I went to attend an ex-student's wedding at Taman Sri Pulai. I taught him when he was in Form 1 and Form 2 and he went to other school after Form 3. Rosidi was from the SPM 2001 batch and actually we just "met" online via Facebook. So when he sent the invitation card, so it was a good chance to meet him. So Rosidi, may your life will always be filled with love and happiness.

There was no early plan whatsoever. It was just a proposal from Najmi for a movie after the dinner so we just decided to go for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I didn't know that there was a midnight show even on Friday so it was just the right time.This is the kind of movie for people who like Harry Potter, Narnia or Lords of the Rings, definitely of the same genre. Perhaps you will understand the story line better if you have a background knowledge of the ancient Greek gods. The protagonist, Jesse Jackson, is a demi-god - half human and half god, because his father who was a god married his mother who was a normal human being. Then the Gods were unhappy because the lightning bolt was stolen and they suspected Percy as the one who did it. If the bolt was not returned to the rightful owner, then there would be war between the two gods. So as a son of a Greek god, what did you expect? Percy had all the superpower that a superhero needed just to save the world. By looking at the ending of the movie, there should be a sequel to this one.

Thanks Najmi!

A movie that entertained and gave some knowledge of the history of ancient Greek. It makes you want to read more to find more.

I was contacted by Zulfadelie and Amin Ahmad (from SPM batch 2006). They were asking whether I would be free on Friday night as they were having a small gathering at Taman Merdeka. And I immediately agreed.

Zulfadzelie, Najmi, Amin and Syafiq

Mazhani, Tasya and Fatihah

As usual, people were late, so while waiting, the few early ones were happily spending time snapping away a few photographs. Weren't there anything else to be done?

impatiently waiting for the rest

the initial part of the eating marathon

The eating marathon started when the others were arriving. The restaurant was jam-packed with customers and there was a bigger group which was having a formal function at the same time. Other people from other groups started much earlier so not much of the restaurant's specialties like its barbecued lamb and chicken were left on the table.The restaurant is famous for its buffet style lunch and dinner. So there was a spread of luxurious food, eat all you could - and actually, not much could be eaten. I ate lunch here before and I guessed I had taken definetely the same food which were Arab rice and lamb. Other than the barbecued meat, I guess the food was just the same. However, if you are the kind of person who can really eat a lot, this is the place for you.

all the happy faces

people's favourite pastime

A few minutes were spent for photo session, everybody's favourite, before we went our separate ways. To me, it was not the eating session,but it was the kind thought of inviting me was more important than everything else. And I am always glad to see how they have grown into fine young gentlemen and ladies after all these years. So thanks again to all the 15 of them: Zulfadzelie and Amin (the organizers), Tasya, Fatihah, Mazhani, Najmi, Suhaizie, Hanis, Jasmadi, Syafiq, Kamil, Zul Radin, Azizi, Amir and Anas for the great time. As everyone is studying at different places, this gathering is one of the ways for us to meet each other or else we will only meet during Hari Raya. So hope to see you again some other time.